Discussion before the first film with director Paul Schrader, moderated by F.X. Feeney.

35 mm!

AFFLICTION

1997,
Lionsgate,
114 min,
USA/Canada,
Dir: Paul Schrader

Writer-director Paul Schrader’s adaptation of the Russell Banks novel focuses on New Hampshire policeman Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte, in one of his best performances), forced to confront personal demons as he investigates a suspicious hunting accident. The top-notch cast includes Sissy Spacek, Willem Dafoe, Mary Beth Hurt and James Coburn, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Whitehouse’s abusive father.

Willem Dafoe is an alienated drug courier in night-time Manhattan, faced with intimations of his own mortality in this underrated, neo-Bressonian crime film from the author of TAXI DRIVER. Dana Delaney gives a powerful, understated performance as Dafoe's ex-girlfriend fated for a tragic end, while Susan Sarandon shines as his drug-dealer boss experiencing her own painful spiritual growth.